Vehicle control barrier

ABSTRACT

A barrier adapted to be set up for temporary traffic control comprises a man-portable unit placed on the ground from which a boom, preferably in the form of a reelable tube, can be withdrawn. The boom extends at an oblique angle to the ground in its “down” position and a motor within the ground-standing unit can raise and lower it between that position and an “up” position at a greater angle to the ground in which traffic can pass.

The present invention relates to vehicle control barriers and in oneaspect seeks to provide a form of barrier which can be easilytransported and rapidly deployed for use at, for example, temporarysecurity checkpoints or more generally where a need arises for temporarytraffic control e.g. at construction sites, events, road accidents andso on.

In one aspect the invention accordingly resides in means for deploymentas a vehicle control barrier comprising a man-portable unit adapted tobe placed on the ground in use of the barrier; means for defining anelongate barrier member to project upwardly from said unit at an obliqueangle to the ground in a barring position; and means to enable raisingand lowering of said barrier member between said barring position and anon-barring position at a greater angle to the ground.

The barrier member is preferably extendible and retractable with respectto said unit and may in this respect be of telescopic or even inflatableform, but more preferably is formed as a reelable tube. This is animportant feature of the invention, which in another aspect resides inmeans for deployment as a vehicle control barrier comprising a reelabletube adapted to define an elongate barrier member to project in abarring position when withdrawn from its reel assembly; and means toenable pivoting of said tube, when withdrawn as aforesaid, betweenbarring and non-barring positions.

In yet another aspect the invention resides in means for deployment as avehicle arresting system comprising means as defined above fordeployment as a barrier in the path of oncoming vehicles; means fordetecting the impact with said barrier of a vehicle which drives throughsaid barrier; and means for deploying a vehicle arresting device in thepath of such vehicle in response to the detection of such impact.

The arresting device in such a system is preferably in the form of a netadapted to be laid flat on the ground with one or more transverse rowsof upwardly-directed spikes attached to the net at a leading portionthereof.

These and other features of the present invention will now be moreparticularly described, by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a preferred embodiment of a vehiclecontrol barrier according to the invention as deployed and in itsbarring position;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a unit from which the barrier of FIG. 1 can bedeployed, with its boom fully retracted;

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the unit of FIG. 2, with the boom in thecourse of extension;

FIG. 4 is a similar view to FIG. 3, with the boom more fully extended;

FIG. 5 illustrates the unit of FIG. 2 in the course of transportation;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the interior of the unit of FIG. 2, with acover plate removed;

FIG. 7 illustrates the deployment of the barrier of FIG. 1 in a systemalso comprising a vehicle arresting device in readiness to be deployedto arrest a vehicle if the barrier is driven through; and

FIG. 8 illustrates the system of FIG. 8 with the vehicle arrestingdevice deployed following impact with barrier.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portable vehicle control barrier according to theinvention in its deployed condition as viewed head on to approachingtraffic. It comprises a unit 1 placed on the ground G from which a boom2 extends upwardly at an oblique angle to lie within the path ofapproaching traffic. In this Figure the boom 2 is shown with a removable“STOP” sign 3 clipped onto it. The boom 2 is in the form of a reelabletube withdrawn from a reel assembly 4 as will be more particularlydescribed below, and the reel assembly 4 is mounted on the side of acase 5 which houses a battery, motor and other components for operationof the barrier as will also be more particularly described below. Thereel assembly 4 can be driven to turn as a whole about an axis Xrelative to the case 5 through a limited angle in order to raise andlower the barrier represented by boom 2. That is to say to raise thebarrier from the condition shown in FIG. 1 and allow vehicles to pass,the assembly 4 is turned anticlockwise (as viewed) to pivot the boom 2upwards in the sense of the arrow in the Figure until it issubstantially vertical to the ground; return rotation of the assembly 4from that position through an equivalent angle will then return the boom2 to its illustrated barring position.

FIG. 2 shows the unit 1 with the boom 2 fully retracted and FIGS. 3 and4 with the boom in subsequent stages of deployment, and the lid 6 of thecase 5 opened. The case 5 has an extendable handle 7 and wheels 8 sothat the whole unit 1 can be transported (with the boom 2 retracted) byone person as indicated in FIG. 5.

The reel assembly 4 comprises a pair of linked side plates 9 betweenwhich is supported a coil of ribbon or tape-like material 10. Thematerial 10 can be drawn off from the coil through a set of roller balls11 and naturally forms itself into a stable tubular structure in whichits opposite side edges curve round towards each other, as shownparticularly by FIGS. 3 and 4. These edges may butt together at alongitudinal seam 12 as shown in FIG. 4, or in other embodimentsstability may be achieved with the wall of the “tube” forming less thana complete circle as viewed in section, typically extending around 270to 315 degrees of arc. (Note: the circumferential lines shown on theboom 2 in the Figures represent surface markings to increase itsvisibility in use and are not intended to depict a segmented structure).This process is reversible in that pushing the tubular structure backtowards the reel assembly naturally flattens and rewinds the materialinto the original coiled form. Such reelable tubes are known per se andexamples are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,177,987, EP0357658 andEP0891248. One form of reelable tube that may be particularly suitablefor incorporating in a barrier according to the invention ismanufactured by Rolatube Technology Limited and marketed by reference tothe term “bi-stable reeled composite technology”, the material such as10 comprising a thermoplastics matrix with reinforcing fibres to biasthe material between its two stable states.

FIG. 6 illustrates principal components within the case 5 beneath a maincover plate 13. They include an electric storage battery 14, motor 15and gearbox 16 with an output shaft 17 to which the reel assembly 4 isattached for raising and lowering the barrier. The battery 14 ispositioned to counterbalance the weight of the deployed boom 2 as far aspossible and springs 18 act through levers attached to the shaft 17 tocounter the torque from the boom 2 in the “down” position and providesome resistance as it moves towards the fully “up” position, the resultbeing a lower load on the gearbox 16 and smoother operation with lesstendency to overshoot when raising and lowering. Limit switches 19 areprovided to define the end positions for motor operation when raisingand lowering. Control electronics are notionally indicated at 20 in FIG.6 and various control and test switches 21 and indicators 22 arenotionally indicated on the cover plate 13 in FIGS. 2 to 4. Raising andlowering of the barrier can be controlled by an operator at the plate 13or by means of a remote control link to the unit 1.

It will be appreciated that the illustrated unit can be easily wheeledor carried to any location where it may be required and rapidly deployedby laying the case 5 on the ground and withdrawing the boom 2 from thereel assembly 4. The withdrawal of the boom, and its subsequentrewinding when the barrier is no longer required or is to be moved, caneasily be performed by hand, although in other embodiments a form ofmotorised deployment and retraction of the boom could be provided. Theunit 1 needs no special foundations or ground anchorage, which alsofacilitates its rapid deployment, although additional means may beemployed to secure it in place more permanently if desired. The barrieris adaptable to different road widths simply by choosing the overalllength of boom 2 to be withdrawn from the reel assembly 4.

It will also be appreciated that, being a relatively lightweightstructure, the illustrated barrier is intended principally to act as avisual signal to stop (and an indicator of driver's intent if driventhrough), and might not physically prevent a vehicle's continued passageif the driver is intent on driving through. Should a vehicle fail tostop with the barrier in the “down” position the whole unit might beswept aside (at least when in a freestanding mode), thereby avoidingmajor damage to the structure. The boom 2 could also be configured totaper towards its free end and thereby increase its flexibility toreduce the risk of damage in the event of impact from a vehicle.

However, it is also envisaged to employ a barrier of this kind as the“front end” of a system to positively arrest any vehicle which fails tostop when required. In this respect the unit 1 may also include one ormore accelerometers to sense the impact of a vehicle which drivesthrough the barrier when in the “down” position, a signal from suchdevice then being used to deploy a vehicle arresting device across theroadway behind the barrier. Such a vehicle arrester may in particular bea device of the kind marketed by the present applicant under theregistered trade mark “X-Net” and as described in WO2004/072382. Thiscomprises a net intended to be laid flat on the ground in the path of anoncoming vehicle and having rows of upwardly-directed barbed spikesattached to the net along its leading edge. When a vehicle runs over thedevice the spikes lodge in its front tyres and the net is caused to wraparound the front wheels, being pulled tight under the vehicle so thatthe tension in the net prevents further rotation of the wheels and thevehicle is brought to a stop.

A system of this kind is depicted in FIG. 7. In this example a portablebarrier A as described above comprising the boom 2 extending from unit 1is set up at a checkpoint on a roadway B. The barrier A is located somedistance in front of a “choke” point through which vehicles must pass tocontinue their journey or reach a restricted area or building forexample, and which is defined by obstructions notionally indicated at 23in the Figure on either side of the roadway B. An “X-Net” vehiclearrester C is located in a folded condition to one side of the roadwayat the “choke” point between obstructions 23, in readiness to bedeployed in case of need. A winch 24 is anchored to the ground at asuitable location on the opposite side of the roadway to the device Cand is connected thereto by cables 25 and 26 which pass around pulleys27 and 28 (also anchored to the ground) and across the roadway to thefolded vehicle arrester. The cables 25,26 lie on the ground and do notthemselves present an impediment to the passage of authorised vehiclesthrough the “choke” point when permitted by raising of the barrier A.

In the event that a vehicle fails to stop at the checkpoint and drivesthrough the barrier A, however, as indicated by the swept-aside barrierin FIG. 8, a shock sensor within the unit 1 sends a signal to the winch24 over a wired or wireless link notionally indicated at 30. In responsethe winch rapidly reels in the cables 25,26 and deploys the “X-Net”device C across the roadway as also seen in FIG. 8, before the vehicle(itself not shown) can reach the “choke” point. Further progress of thevehicle will then be halted by the device C as more particularlydescribed in WO2004/072382. “Weak links” with a specified breakingstrain will be included at the connections between the cables 25,26 andarrester C to enable the latter to detach from the deployment systemunder the action of wrapping around the wheels of the vehicle and makingthe arrest.

1. A vehicle control barrier comprising a man-portable unit adapted tobe placed on the ground in use of the barrier; an elongate barriermember adapted to project upwardly from said unit at an oblique angle tothe ground in a barring position; and said barrier member being arrangedin use to be raised and lowered between said barring position and anon-barring position at a greater angle to the ground.
 2. A barrieraccording to claim 1 wherein said barrier member is extendible from andretractable into said unit.
 3. A barrier according to claim 2 whereinsaid barrier member is in the form of a reelable tube.
 4. A barrieraccording to claim 3 wherein said barrier member is arranged to beraised and lowered by pivoting with respect to said unit a reel assemblyfrom which said tube is withdrawn.
 5. A barrier according to claim 1wherein said unit is equipped with wheels and a handle to facilitate itstransportation by one person.
 6. A vehicle control barrier comprising areelable tube adapted to define an elongate barrier member to project ina barring position when withdrawn from its reel assembly; and said tubebeing arranged to be pivoted, when withdrawn as aforesaid, betweenbarring and non-barring positions.
 7. A barrier according to claim 6wherein said reelable tube is comprised in a man-portable unit adaptedto be placed on the ground in use of the barrier.
 8. A barrier accordingto claim 7 wherein said unit is equipped with wheels and a handle tofacilitate its transportation by one person.
 9. (canceled)
 10. A vehiclearresting system comprising a barrier according to claim 1 deployed inthe path of oncoming vehicles; a detector for detecting the impact withsaid barrier of a vehicle which drives through said barrier; and avehicle arresting device adapted to be deployed in the path of suchvehicle in response to the detection of such impact.
 11. A systemaccording to claim 10 comprising a vehicle arresting device in the formof a net adapted to be laid flat on the ground with one or moretransverse rows of upwardly-directed spikes attached to the net at aleading portion thereof.
 12. A system according to claim 11 comprising awinch adapted to pull said vehicle arresting device across the path of avehicle in response to the detection of impact with said barrier. 13.(canceled)
 14. A vehicle arresting system comprising a barrier accordingto claim 6 deployed in the path of oncoming vehicles; a detector fordetecting the impact with said barrier of a vehicle which drives throughsaid barrier; and a vehicle arresting device adapted to be deployed inthe path of such vehicle in response to the detection of such impact.15. A system according to claim 14 comprising a vehicle arresting devicein the form of a net adapted to be laid flat on the ground with one ormore transverse rows of upwardly-directed spikes attached to the net ata leading portion thereof.
 16. A system according to claim 15 comprisinga winch adapted to pull said vehicle arresting device across the path ofa vehicle in response to the detection of impact with said barrier. 17.A barrier according to claim 4 comprising a motor within said unit forpivoting said reel assembly.
 18. A barrier according to claim 7comprising a motor within said unit for pivoting said reel assembly.